Spatial audio array processing system and method

Abstract

A spatial audio processing system operable to enable audio signals to be spatially extracted from, or transmitted to, discrete locations within an acoustic space. Embodiments of the present disclosure enable an array of transducers being installed in an acoustic space to combine their signals via inverting physical and environmental models that are measured, learned, tracked, calculated, or estimated. The models may be combined with a whitening filter to establish a cooperative or non-cooperative information-bearing channel between the array and one or more discrete, targeted physical locations in the acoustic space by applying the inverted models with whitening filter to the received or transmitted acoustical signals. The spatial audio processing system may utilize a model of the combination of direct and indirect reflections in the acoustic space to receive or transmit acoustic information, regardless of ambient noise levels, reverberation, and positioning of physical interferers.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . An audio processing method comprising:
 receiving, with at least one processor, an audio input comprising audio signal data captured by one or more transducers within an acoustic environment;   identifying, with the at least one processor, a target audio signal within the audio input,   wherein the target audio signal comprises an audio signal emanating from a point source within the acoustic environment;   simulating, with the at least one processor, a plurality of acoustic propagation models for the target audio signal based on a plurality of known acoustic propagation models for the acoustic environment;   analyzing, with the at least one processor, the plurality of simulated acoustic propagation models according to a maximum likelihood estimation to determine an estimated acoustic propagation model for the target audio signal;   processing, with the at least one processor, the audio input according to the estimated acoustic propagation model to extract the target audio signal from one or more non-target audio signals in the audio input; and   applying, with the at least one processor, a whitening filter to an extracted target audio signal to derive at least one separated audio output signal,   wherein applying the whitening filter comprises suppressing the one or more non-target audio signals in the audio input according to the estimated acoustic propagation model,   wherein the one or more non-target audio signals comprise one or more audio signals emanating from a location in the acoustic environment other than the point source within the acoustic environment.   
     
     
         2 . The audio processing method of  claim 1  wherein each acoustic propagation model in the plurality of known acoustic propagation models corresponds to a known location in the acoustic environment. 
     
     
         3 . The audio processing method of  claim 1  wherein each acoustic propagation model in the plurality of known acoustic propagation models comprises a frame size corresponding to a three-dimensional area in the acoustic environment. 
     
     
         4 . The audio processing method of  claim 2  wherein the plurality of known acoustic propagation models are stored in a library database. 
     
     
         5 . The audio processing method of  claim 1  further comprising estimating, with the at least one processor, a location of the point source within the acoustic environment based on the estimated acoustic propagation model. 
     
     
         6 . The audio processing method of  claim 1  wherein the audio input is received in real-time. 
     
     
         7 . The audio processing method of  claim 6  further comprising processing, with the at least one processor, the audio input in real-time to determine a second or subsequent estimated acoustic propagation model for the target audio signal. 
     
     
         8 . The audio processing method of  claim 6  further comprising processing, with the at least one processor, the audio input in real-time to determine a real-time location for the point source within the acoustic environment. 
     
     
         9 . The audio processing method of  claim 1  further comprising processing, with the at least one processor, the audio input in real-time to determine a second or subsequent target audio signal from the audio signal data. 
     
     
         10 . The audio processing method of  claim 1  wherein the audio input comprises two or more channels of the audio signal data. 
     
     
         11 . The audio processing method of  claim 10  wherein each channel in the two or more channels of the audio signal data corresponds to at least one transducer located in the acoustic environment. 
     
     
         12 . An audio processing system comprising:
 a processing device comprising an audio processing module configured to receive an audio input comprising acoustic audio signals captured within an acoustic environment; and   at least one non-transitory computer readable medium communicably engaged with the processing device and having instructions stored thereon that, when executed, cause the processing device to perform one or more audio processing operations, the one or more audio processing operations comprising:   receiving an audio input comprising audio signal data captured by one or more transducers within an acoustic environment;   identifying a target audio signal within the audio input, wherein the target audio signal comprises an audio signal emanating from a point source within the acoustic environment;   simulating a plurality of acoustic propagation models for the target audio signal based on a plurality of known acoustic propagation models for the acoustic environment;   analyzing the plurality of simulated acoustic propagation models according to a maximum likelihood estimation to determine an estimated acoustic propagation model for the target audio signal;   processing the audio input according to the estimated acoustic propagation model to spatially filter the target audio signal from one or more non-target audio signals in the audio input; and   applying a whitening filter to a spatially filtered target audio signal to derive at least one separated audio output signal,   wherein applying the whitening filter comprises suppressing the one or more non-target audio signals in the audio input according to the estimated acoustic propagation model,   wherein the one or more non-target audio signals comprise one or more audio signals emanating from a location in the acoustic environment other than the point source within the acoustic environment.   
     
     
         13 . The audio processing system of  claim 12  wherein each acoustic propagation model in the plurality of known acoustic propagation models corresponds to a known location in the acoustic environment. 
     
     
         14 . The audio processing system of  claim 12  wherein each acoustic propagation model in the plurality of known acoustic propagation models comprises a frame size corresponding to a three-dimensional area in the acoustic environment. 
     
     
         15 . The audio processing system of  claim 12  wherein the audio input is received in real-time. 
     
     
         16 . The audio processing system of  claim 15  wherein the one or more audio processing operations further comprise processing the audio input in real-time to determine a second or subsequent estimated acoustic propagation model for the target audio signal. 
     
     
         17 . The audio processing system of  claim 15  wherein the one or more audio processing operations further comprise processing the audio input in real-time to determine a real-time location for the point source within the acoustic environment. 
     
     
         18 . The audio processing system of  claim 12  further comprising two or more transducers communicably engaged with the processing device. 
     
     
         19 . The audio processing system of  claim 18  wherein each transducer in the two or more transducers comprises a separate channel in the audio input. 
     
     
         20 . A non-transitory computer readable storage medium having processor-executable instructions stored thereon that, when executed, are configured to command one or more processors to perform one or more operations of an audio processing method, the one or more operations comprising:
 receiving an audio input comprising audio signal data captured by one or more transducers within an acoustic environment;   identifying a target audio signal within the audio input, wherein the target audio signal comprises an audio signal emanating from a point source within the acoustic environment;   simulating a plurality of acoustic propagation models for the target audio signal based on a plurality of known acoustic propagation models for the acoustic environment;   analyzing the plurality of simulated acoustic propagation models according to a maximum likelihood estimation to determine an estimated acoustic propagation model for the target audio signal;   processing the audio input according to the estimated acoustic propagation model to spatially filter the target audio signal from one or more non-target audio signals in the audio input; and   applying a whitening filter to a spatially filtered target audio signal to derive at least one separated audio output signal,   wherein applying the whitening filter comprises suppressing the one or more non-target audio signals in the audio input according to the estimated acoustic propagation model,   wherein the one or more non-target audio signals comprise one or more audio signals emanating from a location in the acoustic environment other than the point source within the acoustic environment.